After having my head up my arse for most of the early part of this year (I was suffering the after effects of my second go of Covid, then a friend died – I wasn’t in a place to think about much), I came to a couple of weeks ago.
One of the first things that really got my attention was that there didn’t seem to be anything happening in Leeds to help towards humanitarian aid for Ukraine. Not long after the invasion, I was sat with my friend (and fellow DJ/producer) Rory, and a post came up on my facebook news feed. It was from a guy who is a Ukrainian producer and it was a pic of him and a mate and some synths. I can’t remember exactly what he wrote, but it was something like:
“Well there are bombs dropping, and we don’t know what to do right now, so I guess we’re just going to keep doing this.
“That could be us” I said to Rory. “Except we don’t have bombs dropping around us.” It really hit home.
I donated to a couple of charities via Jane Fitz‘s appeal on facebook and Instagram, and I’ve also been told by a friend who has been informed directly by their Ukrainian mates not to donate to the Red Cross appeal as apparently “they do weird things” and have actually helped Russia in some way. So just putting that out there. I didn’t know this and was going to choose that as one of the charities for our appeal.
Anyway, I’d seen people doing various good things to help in London and since Leeds has such a vibrant scene and a lot of people who are up for going out and getting involved in things, and since I’m pretty well versed in sorting out events – and have done charity fundraisers before – I thought about putting something together.
I put a post out on socials and the response was above and beyond. Marta, Stu and Mark from Doghouse got in touch straight away, along with a plethora of DJs and artists, and this is what we have so far…
Please join us to help raise funds for Ukraine at Leeds Corn Exchange on Saturday 7th May.
Event link here
There will be DJs, an art auction, an auction of things and crafts. There will also be a bar provided by Doghouse / 212 with a percentage (TBA) of proceeds going to the charities.
The event will be free until 6pm and then there will be a £5 minimum donation.
All proceeds from this and the auctions will be divided between the following charities:
Action Aid Ukraine Appeal
Help Ukraine Center
DJs (In alphabetical order):
Alex Handley (WOD)
Auto Sound City (Live Set)
Andy Hickford
Carl Saunders
Elliot Holt
Euan Castle
Joe Morris
John Paynter
LXK
Luke Foulkes
Matthew Cullen
Matt JL
Mick Clarke (Iron Blu)
Nikol
Pete Melba
Rory Flynn
Roya Brehl
Toni Aslam (WOD)
(some sets will be B2B, we’ll be arranging properly next week)
(I’m also looking at places for an overspill of DJs as I don’t want to turn anyone down who has volunteered – and also more female DJs. I am actually against positive discrimination for the sake of itself – in the scene we are in, generally you end up with a mix of genders, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation, just people who played good music – but I put down anyone who responded immediately – but yes this needs to be resolved)
We’ll also be sorting a bandcamp release with all proceeds to the charities – more info on this soon…
Art Auction & Auction of Things:
These will be listed online as a blind auction and bids will also be taken on the day with winning bids announced at the event
Crafts, Food & more TBA (with a percentage of takings donated to the charities)
Ali Wilson (Ali Cat Vintage) will be running a vintage stall
Immortal Bloom will be coming to look at the space. More info on this soon…
MORE INFO SOON xx